United States v. Chad Pyles

My colleagues recognize that a sentencing court “must consider” any “non-frivolous arguments for mitigation” that a defendant presents. Maj. Op. at 88 (citing United States v. Bigley, 786 F.3d 11, 12, 14 (D.C. Cir. 2015)). But confronted with a record that fails to show such consideration, the majority is content with evidence that the judge spoke reasonably about the issues he did address. This accommodating test effectively eliminates the requirement of considering nonfrivolous arguments. Because the record offers no hint that the district court even listened to — let alone considered — two…